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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsGOP Faces Big Dilemma As Its Obamacare War Fizzles: What Next?
SAHIL KAPUR MAY 9, 2014, 6:00 AM EDT
The tables have turned in the GOP war on Obamacare and now the party finds itself with no good fallback position.
For five years they profited politically from waging an all-out assault on Democrats' push to cover the uninsured. Republicans united against Obamacare in the bill's infancy and proceeded to turn the sprawling new law into a political liability for Democrats by persuading Americans that it would imperil their access to health care.
"Repeal and replace" was the mantra -- although while Republicans forced more than 50 votes to repeal or undo the law they never coalesced around a replacement. Last month, after the law surpassed its 7 million signups target, numerous conservative experts warned that the dream of repealing it had faded and that Republicans would need to learn to live with Obamacare.
This week, those warnings proved prescient. Republicans failed to land meaningful punches in two congressional hearings that implicated Obamacare. House Republicans on the Energy & Commerce Committee failed to extract any bad news about potential premium spikes from insurance industry executives. Senate Republicans barely attempted to attack the law in a confirmation hearing for Sylvia Mathews Burwell, who'll soon be tasked with leading implementation. Gone are the days when Republicans effortlessly made Democrats squirm over Obamacare and get defensive about its failures.
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http://talkingpointsmemo.com/dc/republicans-obamacare-repeal-backfires-replace
msanthrope
(37,549 posts)DetlefK
(16,423 posts)pampango
(24,692 posts)Reality does not seem to affect their campaign rhetoric. What else do they have for a party whose policies and rhetoric are detached from reality? They pretty much have to stay with the "tried-if-not-true" attacks that they have always used.
I don't expect them to change their rhetoric on Obamacare any time soon. You know the tea party republicans won't change their rhetoric and I bet other republicans will at the very least humor them by parroting the same rhetoric. There is a small chance that may change during the 2016 presidential campaign but I doubt it. If nothing else, the Democratic candidate can constantly bring up republican opposition to Obamacare. What will the republican say. "We were wrong about that." I don't think so. The rhetoric will continue though they may try to bury it more than in the past.